The present invention relates to a needle shield assembly attachable to a syringe body or other fluid delivery system to protect a user from accidental and unintentional puncture. Public concern has increased to protect a user from coming into physical contact with a used needle due to well documented cases of illness and death brought about by accidental puncture or pricking with contaminated needles. These are usually brought about by direct contact with discarded uncovered contaminated needles or in the capping and uncapping of contaminated needles marketed with friction fitted needle caps. Various designs for shielding the needle have been proposed. These designs, however, are complex even with or without the use of a spring mechanism.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a needle assembly having a cover that can shield and unshield the sharp tip of a needle without the need of direct manual manipulation of the needle cover.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a needle assembly that can be operated with one hand.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a needle assembly that is simple in design and easy to operate.